Celebrate Artopia and Westword's newest MasterMinds

Comments (0) By Patricia Calhoun and Susan Froyd and Amber Taufen Thursday, Feb 18 2010

Goldhamer now lives in R&R House, an active community house full of musicians and permaculture practitioners. Denver "is an empowering place," she says, "where, with gumption and persistence, people can make what's in their mind a reality."

One thing on her mind these days: Long Spoon, a collective working toward ideals of "community health" through positive group dynamics and social change, especially within the arts. "It's potluck style," Goldhamer explains. "A group of individuals can together bring many things to the table, creating a diversity of diet. That diversity is going to be a stronger force, more healthy for the life of a community, and more nourishing as a whole. Seems way better than one person eating a massive amount of mac 'n' cheese by themselves."

Fallene Wells

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The name Long Spoon was inspired by a couple of things. The line "If you're going to dine with the devil, you'd better dine with a long spoon" is useful advice if you're serious about being a successful musician yet want to maintain a healthy distance from the corrupt behavior within the industry, Goldhamer says. And then there's the proverb about a guy who wants to see what hell is like. There's a table loaded with food, and people sitting around it — one hand tied behind their back, the other hand with a long spoon tied to it so that they cannot lift the spoons to their own mouths. The guy then asks to see heaven — and the setup is the same, but now everyone is feeding each other. "By helping one another, we're able to make it work," Goldhamer says.

Long Spoon will serve up its second compilation release this spring. Take a heaping helping. — Patricia Calhoun